University strikes hotel deal as part of £1billion campus master plan

The University of Manchester has signed a deal to build a new hotel and an Executive Education Centre for Manchester Business School on its Oxford Road campus.

Bruntwood, one of the UK’s leading regional property firms, will develop the 326-room hotel in a 19-storey building under an investment deal with M&L Hospitality Group.

The landmark development, designed by architects BDP and Leach Rhodes Walker, will provide high-end accommodation for visitors to the University, its business school and the wider city.

The hotel, which forms part of Bruntwood’s wider redevelopment of Manchester Business School (MBS), will adjoin a new two-storey Executive Education Centre, which will provide a new home for the business school’s corporate leadership and management programmes.

Professor Fiona Devine, Head of MBS, said: “The hotel will provide an excellent base for all our visitors from across the globe to explore Manchester and the North West, with easy access to MBS and the University.

“The new Executive Education Centre will enable us to grow our international client base of some of the world’s leading businesses and public sector organisations.”

The development is part of the University’s £1billion Campus Masterplan, which will create some of the most modern campus facilities in the world along the southern gateway to the city, known as the Manchester Corridor.

Chris Roberts, Bruntwood Development Director, said: “The hotel and adjoining Executive Education Centre will be a landmark development for the Corridor and a great addition to the amenities of the city’s tourism and business offer.”

Neil Maxwell, CEO of M&L Hospitality, added: “We are always exploring investment opportunities that have the potential to deliver stable and attractive returns. This hotel will be a valuable campus amenity for MBS, the University and other nearby facilities, such as the Central Manchester University Hospitals, the Manchester Science Park and the many cultural assets and arts venues along the Corridor.”